When you persistently offer something for free, you run the risk of suggesting it has no particular value. When you offer something for free and get hardly any takers, the fact would appear to be proven.

That is the uncomfortable position in which French racing found itself here at Longchamp on Sunday, when this famous course staged Europe's first Group One race of the year, won in stirring style by Cirrus Des Aigles, one of the four best racehorses in the world. Entry cost nothing but the pitiful crowd, for which a figure was not available, did not appear to number more than 3,000 by the estimate of one regular.

It was a slightly eerie experience for any visitor from across the Channel, accustomed to having to scrap for space at the bar, even on wet Mondays at Plumpton, to find entire sections of the enormous grandstands practically vacant while races were being run. Atmosphere was consequently rather lacking. Crowd noise tended to reach a peak about two furlongs from home and, in the absence of a closely fought finish, would trail away to conversation level by the time the winner reached the line.

It is a familiar problem. Horse racing has not been a mass-spectator sport in France for a very long time, with only occasional exceptions like the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in October. Officials have, in recent years, tried to generate some enthusiasm with their Dimanches au galop promotion, free-entry Sundays at the capital's major tracks, of which this was the latest.

Sunday's poor response is the more disappointing in light of how easy it would be for Paris's 12m inhabitants to get here. Longchamp is about a 20-minute drive from the city centre. The stands afford a clear view of the Eiffel Tower, which seems to rise from behind the row of buildings opposite the course.

Bertrand Belinguier, president of France Galop, which runs the sport in France, said that this crowd was "certainly not typical". "We had a Sunday at Auteuil, two or three Sundays ago, where we had 13,000, which was very good," he said. "Today we are facing a situation where it is a holiday period, a bank holiday for many people and the [very wet] weather this morning was not very encouraging for racing."

Still it would have to be admitted that a weekend raceday of similar quality at Ascot, 50 minutes to the west of Marble Arch, would be likely to attract around 13,000 customers paying between £16 and £25. British racing prides itself on good attendance figures and officials regularly claim the annual total makes it the second-biggest spectator sport in the country, behind football.

Such a boast can be only dreamed of in France, yet the industry here believes itself to be an enormous success and many English racing professionals agree. For decades the French Tote, or PMU, had a monopoly on betting on racing here and returned a huge sum each year to the sport, which could be used to improve facilities and prize money.

In recent years competition rules have forced the market to be opened up to rival bookmakers but the PMU retains a dominant share of the business. Its figures for 2011 show a 14th consecutive year of growth, with turnover breaking €10bn for the first time and yielding an operating profit of €2.49bn.

Belinguier, a former director general of the PMU, notes the benefit to racing professionals here. Prize money for the best races is at a similar level to such races in Britain, but "ordinary" races are worth significantly more, with the result that English trainers are getting into the habit of sending their horses over.

David Nicholls collected a healthy £6,000 last February when Snow Bay won a lowly claiming race for amateur riders on the all-weather at Cagnes. Not one of the 21 races scheduled to take place in Britain on Monday offers as much and some offer less than a third of that figure.

Granted such healthy purses, officials may have felt little pressure to work on improving the sport's popularity. Someone has clearly been betting on it, after all, even if they do so from cafe-bars rather than the grandstand.

There is no sign of complacency now. "Venir en famille!" the French are urged in advertising campaigns and children here yesterday were offered all sorts of entertainments, riding mechanical horses, designing their own jockeys' silks and even wandering into the big tent marked "Learn how to bet".

It is to be hoped that some of them found their attention caught by the action on the track as well. French racing may be essentially pleased with itself but it is hard to admire the sport that no one will pay nothing to see.